DYLAN'S GEORGIA VACATION
Chapter 31
by Donny Mumford
Damn good party, but it's coming up on two o'clock in the morning now and we've got an hour's ride back to Marietta. Mike and Ryan only drank beers at the party, so both of them are in better shape to drive than me. After giving thanks to Phillip and then enduring a number of kisses from him, we're outtta here. When we're at the car Ryan gets in the driver's seat and away we go with the convertible top up. I'm snugly in the back seat feeling mellow and pretty good. I had a good time with the crazily named George'tu. I could see us becoming friends except for us being geographically fucked. I'll probably never see him again, but tonight it was a triple play for me. I gave him a much needed haircut, a much needed sexy blow job, and topped off the evening getting fucked by his nine inch cock. Yep, damn good night! Who would have suspected a blind date like that? He had the most awesome long hair too and I'm kinda smiling to myself thinking about cutting it. The sex wasn't especially special, not the kind that left me feeling really sexually satisfying, but it was good, like most sex is.
Ryan and Mike are talking quietly in the front seat, chuckling every now and then. They get along really well. There's classic rock tunes on the radio and most of the songs I've heard before... oldies being played back home on 92.5 FM. Some of the 'classics' even deserve the title, and then some of them are pure shit. You know how that goes; we all have our own individual tastes in music. In high school I tried like hell to develop an appreciation for rap music because it was popular with my peers, but I just couldn't get into it. You can't force yourself to 'like' something. Same for people, sex partners, and lovers.
Speaking of sex partners, from way back when we barely knew each other, Ryan and I had a intense sexual connection like no one else I've been with. That first lunch we had together during freshman year when we were basically combatants for Robby's affection, we fucked like minks. As we got to know each other we got into an intense sub/dom sexual relationship that peeked early last summer and nose-dived when his family moved to Georgia. Since then it's been a roller coaster ride with highs and lows. For whatever the reasons we've continued to have significant sexual heat for one another. Looking at the back of Ryan's head as I sit here in the back of the Mini I feel the attraction right now. That's troublesome too because I'm convinced I'll never be in love with him, and yet I'd like for him to have sex with me right now. Mike could even watch if he wanted to. If I didn't fall in love with Ryan during our close relationship this summer I never will, and I don't want to anyway. I'm in love with Robby. That's the troubling part. I mean what if this strong sexual attraction I have for Ryan continues after Robby and I are married? It'd be a major pain in the ass basically. The best thing for me would be for Ryan to be out of reach, say here in Georgia while Robby and I live our life together in the Framingham condo he's buying. Out of sight, out of mind. That sort of thing.
Maybe it doesn't matter if I have the hots for Ryan or not. From the way he's turned the corner, on a dime I might add, and switched his attention to Mike, sex with Ryan might not be an option for me. He went all last week having sex with me only once, and that seemed enough for him... one time in a week. His professed love for me may have been greatly exaggerated in his mind. Not that I want his love anyway, it's the side-sex that interests me. The amount of difference between sexual arousal with George'tu earlier tonight, for example, and the arousal I felt finally having sex again with Ryan Friday night is enormous. A grand canyon of difference. What I should probably do is get out of Georgia and get back to Robby. The problem with that is I gave my word to be here four more weeks. The weekend after next I'll be home for two days, then two more weeks here and I'm home for good. Well, the first week we'll be in Wildwood. After that I'll work four weeks for Robby on the landscaping crew and then it's my junior year at Merrimack. So that timetable's doable I guess. Earlier I was thinking I'd try not having any side-sex with Ryan, or very little of it. Whatever, but there's one thing for sure... I'm not asking for it. If he doesn't ask me there's an issue. He'd be reneging on his part of the plan and I'd be free to leave before the agreed upon timetable. Okay, maybe the amount of side-sex we have is playing
with semantics, so I guess I'd rather take the high road and fulfill my commitment no matter how much side-sex we have. It sounds kind of petty claiming we have side sex every week, but just not enough to qualify, so I'm out of here. The truth is we never discussed the amount of side-sex we'd be doing anyway. Fucking details!
"Danny! Wake-up!" My eyes pop open to see Ryan's face a foot from mine. "What?" He grins, "We're home, you fell asleep during the ride. Come on, lets get inside." Looking around I realize we're in the garage. Damn, I wanted to see how Mike and Ryan said goodbye. See how mushy they'd be, heh heh. I missed that. Sliding over to get out the driver's door, Ryan holds his hand out helping me extricate myself from this small back seat. Mini convertibles are really two passenger cars. I'm groggy walking to the house as Ryan's asking me how it went with George'tu tonight. I give a generic answer, "It was good, a good time. He's a fun guy, smart too. He's gonna be an engineer of some kind." Inside I follow Ryan up the steps and into his bedroom. He gives me a quick kiss on the lips, saying, "Goodnight, Danny. It's going to be a bitch getting up for church tomorrow morning, huh?" I nod, mumbling, "Yeah, goodnight," and trudge up the secret staircase to the third floor. After a quick trip to the bathroom I get in bed and go right to sleep without thinking about anything.
Sunday morning my alarm goes off and I sleep walk through a shower and other bathroom necessities. Then after taking four Advil, I put my expensive suit on thinking about Willie and smiling. He's a fucking generous kid with his father's inherited money. My head hurts and I pretty much feel like shit. Another fuckin' hangover. Those goddamn shots of tequila are mostly to blame. I can still almost taste that vile whiskey. Checking myself out in the full length mirror, I nod my approval and go down to Ryan's room. "Help me with this tie, Danny." I stand behind him and tie his tie for him. He smells good with my face close to the back of his head. Huh, I'd like to wrap my arms around him and hug his hot body, but I don't. "How ya feeling this morning, Albert?" He's putting on his suit coat, saying, "Okay, but not great. Those fucking shots of VO at Mike's kicked me in the ass." I mutter, "Yeah, tell me about it." We go downstairs saying good morning to his parents,
then getting mugs of coffee we carry them to the gazebo for a cigarette. Nicotine addition make you smoke when you don't really want one.
Ryan lights a Marlboro and the smell of it makes me gag so I put my cigarette back in the box. He's talkative this morning telling me some funny stuff he and Mike encountered at the party. "How 'bout that Phillip? He's funny with all his gay shit, but a really sweet guy aside from his flamboyance. He had Mike and me laughing our asses off. The way he talks, and that laugh of his! Oh my God! He's too much." The back of my hand is pressed to my nose as I'm thinking again, 'Hey, I smell good'. Ryan gives my shoulders a hug, saying, "Jesus, you're really bad off, huh? You're white as a sheet, and with that sunburned nose you look even whiter." That sounds attractive. I nod, "It's the tequila shots last night. My blind date had a large capacity for shots of tequila." He chuckles, "We stayed away from the shots and we didn't have that many beers either." Swell, good for you and Mike! That's what I thought, but don't say. Through the fog of my hangover I notice Ryan's being very nice to me this morning. Maybe we're back to our old ways and it'll be regular side-sex to go with his budding love affair with Mike. That's all I want actually.
Church service this morning goes on for fourteen or fifteen hours and then afterwards, during social hour in the church basement, Timmy's trying to get me to sneak off with him to the shed for a 'quickie', as he put it. As if all sex with Tim isn't a quickie. I mean, how much faster than two minutes can someone fuck? I'm so hungover I tell him no, explaining about my hangover. Timmy says, "Come on, bitch," and gooses my ass. I'm like, "I'm gonna kick the shit out of you in two minutes." He goes, "I'm only kidding, Danny." I notice Mike and Ryan are connected at the hip with Jeff, their third wheel, trying to get Ryan to notice him. Brad's not at church today, the lucky bastard. We have no baseball game scheduled, just an hour's practice, so I guess we miss lunch at the country club. After practice I don't know what we're going to do the rest of the day. Ryan and Mike, done grab-assing with each other, come over to Tim and me, with Jeff following Ryan. Mike says, "Hey boys, we're thinking of going for a swim after you guys have baseball practice. Ya wanna come, Danny? You too Tim." Without even knowing where we'd go for a swim, I say, "Yeah, sure," and Tim shrugs, "I can't. The grandparents are visiting and that means I'm stuck at home. That blows!"
Back at the house we change clothes for practice, which today is only forty-five minutes long. Then we meet up with Mike at Burger King for lunch after which they drop me off at the house. I'm planning on taking a nap while those two supposedly are going to the mall. Mike claims he needs to buy a bathing suit. Maybe they'll even find time to sneak in a quick fuck at Mike's apartment too. A fuck from Ryan that should be mine. Oh well, I might as well get resigned to the situation. Later I wake up hearing Ryan rustling around in his bedroom. Guess he dropped Mike off at his apartment with his new bathing suit... wink, wink. They told me at lunch our 'swim' will be at a water park a half hour's drive from here. Yeah, but finding my bathing suit is the next order of business for me. Where the hell is it as I'm throwing things around the room. Fuck! I'm positive I packed one, but I guess I didn't. Down the steps to Ryan's bedroom, "Um, Albert, I forgot to pack a bathi ng suit. Can I borrow one of yours?" He's stripped down to his underpants, looking through a bureau drawer, mumbling, "Yeah, of course."
He's tries another drawer and goes, "Ah ha," pulling out three swim suits: two of the swim suits are boardies, both Tommy Bahama. One's an off-orange color and the other's a flora pattern. Both cool, and the third swimsuit is a shorter version of a swim trunks. It's a blue Lacoste swim trunks with short legs. Ryan holds up the Tommy Bahama floral pattern boardie shorts, saying, "I've never even worn this." I'm staring at his kinda hairy legs while smelling the back of my wrists, sort of in a trance. It's quiet for a few seconds so I look up into Ryan's eyes. Holding eye contact, he quietly says, "Your eyes are giving you away again, Danny." I advert my eyes, mumbling, "I don't know what you mean by that. Um, either of the boardie trunks will be great, thanks." He flips me the floral one he's never worn. I hold it standing here looking at it, so he asks, "You want the other one?" I nod my head because I stupidly want to wear the swim suit he's worn before. Ryan steps over to me handing me the off-orange one and takes the floral one, quietly saying, "I'm sorry, babe, but you set the rules, not me." He means I insist we just be side-sex buddies, which means he's got his main squeeze who comes first. So I guess they did fuck and Ryan's all set for now. I could have taken Timmy up on his offer, but I didn't. I force a smile, "Hey, we're good, Albert, um, I mean, I'm good, no problem." He rubs my head, "I'm glad."
We pick up Mike first and I get in the back seat, then we pick up Jeff, who squeezes in the back with me. Mike looks back at us grinning and I'm like, "What?" Mike says, "Oh, nothing. It's just seeing you guys with the identical haircuts Albert gave you, I don't know, it's cool." I say, "Why don't you get one?" and he laughs, "Um, no thanks! Um, I couldn't pull that look off." Ryan chuckles, then says to Mike, "Leave my boys alone, okay?" Jeff and I look at each other, frowning. With the wind and road noise it's hard to hear back here, so Jeff leans over putting his lips on my ear, saying, "Let's not get these haircuts next Saturday, okay? If we stick together, ya know?" I nod at him seeing Ryan's eyes in the rearview mirror, so I don't say anything back to Jeff. I do think this could get interesting though. It seems Jeff's turning to me now that Ryan's made it obvious Mike's his boyfriend. Glancing at Jeff I get the same thought I've had a couple of times before: 'He's kinda cute and kinda sexy.'
At the water park the admission is a measly forty dollars each. We could stay until nine tonight except Ryan and I need to be back for the seven o'clock Sunday dinner. It's three o'clock now so that mean we have basically three hours in the pool at about thirteen dollars an hour. Not a well thought-out trip by the person in-charge. I don't complain thought because the others don't seem to care. I mean I don't mind the money so much as it's just plain stupid to get here at three o'clock and need to leave at six. Ryan's the guy in charge though, of course, so whaddaya gonna do? Well, we could have gone to the waterfall pond for free... just saying. Inside the water park's locker room we change into out swim trunks putting our clothes in lockers with keys. It's included in the forty dollar price of admission. While changing I glance at Jeff as he pulls off his underwear. A nice looking penis on that boy, and he has the beginnings of some downy chest hairs down his breast bone. Nice little tight ass too. He's taller than Ryan but shorter than me. I've mostly seen him in a suit at church and Bible study, or his baseball uniform. The one other time I saw him naked was at the gay club, but I didn't pay much attention because Tim's two inch dick was the main attraction. Jeff's got himself a fairly sexy body to go with a kinda cute face. Huh, he's got intriguing side-sex potential.
Like every other water park in the world it's crowded and noisy with little kids' high pitched squeals dominating the noise. We go down the slides, take the inter-tube ride over the falls, then the long wavy tunnel that dumps you into rapids. Unfortunately dropping out of the tunnel I almost land on Jeff because he didn't swim out of the way after he landed. We get tangled up and his wet slippery body feels good. Before we know it we're hugging each other grinning and doing a kiss on the lips. He looks as surprised as I am. We both swim to the side hanging onto the edge of the pool where the water's calmer. Jeff's looking around, then asks, "Do you wanna do it sometime?" Ah ha, I'm not the one who brings it up. I go, "Do you?" and he laughs nervously, mumbling, "If you do." I shrug, "Yeah, okay," and we wrestle in the pool a little feeling each other's slippery body along with some childish goosing and balls squeezing, then he says, "You're hot, Danny." Mike comes up from under water between us, grinning and saying, "That fucking tunnel gave me claustrophobia." I go, "Me too. Ya wanna do it again?" He says, "Yeah, but where's Albert?"
We swim to the little ladder and climb out of the pool with water pouring off us. After pulling our bathing suits up a little we wander over to get in the line for the water tunnel ride, looking around for Ryan. Then we see him sitting on a bench holding ice to his ankle. Going over, Mike asks, "What happened, Albert?" He goes, "A fucking bumble bee stung the shit our of my ankle. I got some ice from the snow cone cart over there." Huh, a snow cone right about now sounds refreshing. It's bitchin' hot as usual. I ask, "Who wants a snow cone?" Mike, hovering around Ryan, gives me a dirty look. Jeff says, "I'm up for that, but I don't have any money on me." I go, "Water park amateur," and dig out a ten dollar bill from my side pocket. I have it waterproofed wrapped in Saran Wrap. Jeff goes, "Cool!" He and I walk over to the cart and get cherry snow-cones. Snow-cones are shaved ice in a paper cone with a concentrated sweet syrup poured over the top. Fuckin' good! Back over to the wounded among us, Ryan sarcastically says, "Thanks for all the sympathy, you two." Jeff shrugs, mumbling, "It's a little bee sting." Mike get's pissed at that, saying, "Little bee sting, huh? Lets see how you like it. Walk around the other side of the pool where Albert says there's a swarm of bees. Go get yourself a bee sting if it's no big deal. Look at the swelling on his ankle." Jeff sucks on his snow cone, muttering, "Fuck no, I'm not walking around there, and fuck you too, Mike." Mike pushes him and Ryan goes, "Stop it! Fer chrissakes." Well, Ryan actually started it by being sarcastic that Jeff and I weren't traumatized because a bee stung him. His ankle is swollen though.
Mike insist Ryan go with him to the first aid station. Ryan's like, "Okay, Mike, if you think I should," then he points at Jeff and me, saying, "You two stay right here so we can find you when we're done." Jeff and I make a face at each other as they go off. Ryan's limping with Mike's arm around his waist helping him along. Drama queen. Jeff's lips are bright red from the cherry syrup. He asks, " Why's he limping? Did he sprain his ankle too?" I snicker, and he adds, "Ya know, Danny, I thought being bossed around by an older dominant gay guy would be cool, but I'm getting sick of it. How do you stand Ryan bossing you around all the time?" Huh, he's getting sick of it just about the time Ryan started going with Mike. I say, "I'm getting a little sick of it too, buddy, but like you so knowingly told me once, it's just part of sub/dom sex game." He goes, "Hey, I was mistaken, but then I'm only eighteen and don't know any better. You're what, twenty-one? What's your excuse?" The little prick! But yeah, what is my excuse?" I mutter, "You wouldn't understand." He slurps the sweet juice from the bottom point of the cone, then says, "Try me. See if I understand." I go, "I'll tell you as soon as I figure it out myself, okay?" He chuckles, tossing the empty paper cone in the trash, then pushing me on the shoulder with the ice-cold hand he held the cone in, he says, "You're much more submissive than me. Maybe I'll start bossing you around." I mumble, "Don't make me laugh, squirt." I finish my snow cone and toss the cone away.
Walking to the back of the line for the tunnel, Jeff says, "I'm no squirt. Albert's the squirt. He's shorted than all of us, but you're his flunky." He's grinning, but I still feel like punching him right in his pug nose. Instead I squeeze it, saying, "Drop this topic, squirt." He pulls his head away grinning, then says, "Lets find someplace to screw," and the two girls in front of us in line both turn to look at us. Jeff grins at them and the girl with the skimpiest two-piece bathing suit I've ever seen, says, "You boys talking about Christine and me?" I frown and then get it, saying, "We're hoping," and she says, "Abandon all hope, honey. You two don't have a chance. Are either of you cute things even eighteen yet?" She has a very southern accent. Jeff goes, "Yeah, I am," and I say, "We're gay, alright?" She smiles, "I know that from what your boyfriend said, I was just playing with y'all. Which one of you gay boys wants to go down the tunnel with me?" I'm like, "It's tempting, but I'm going down with Jeff." As the line moves along we banter back and forth with Christine and Peggy, who are kinda cute themselves.
It passes the time and both these girls would make really cute guys. Peggy sees me smelling the back of my hand and says, "Hey, my brother does that all the time. What's that all about?" I tell her it's a habit I picked up and can't get rid of, plus, "I like how I smell." We laugh and she pulls my arm over and smells the back of my hand, saying, "You smell like chlorine, like a swimming pool." I go, "Yeah, nut under that smell is me," and Jeff takes my hand and smells the back of it going, "Mmmm, you do smell good, Danny!" Than Christine wants to smell and she says, "Yeah, I can smell you under the pool smell, and you do smell good." I go, "See, Peggy, your nose is totally fucked up." She says, "Fuck you too. My nose is perfect," and her girlfriend says, "Hope so, it cost your daddy three thousand dollars." Peggy slaps Christine playfully on the arm, "That's a secret!"
When it's our turn we have a choice: go down the tunnel one at a time, or together. They go together, so Jeff and I go together too wrapping our arms around each other for this fast free fall. It's a ninety second trip from top to bottom enclosed in a plastic tube or tunnel, whatever it's called. Jeff feels good in my arms and he snuggles in tightly giving me a partial boner. When we splash in the rapids below, a twelve foot drop from the end of the tube, the girls are there dragging us to the side of the pool. Peggy asks, "You boys want some spiked lemonade? We have a big-ass thermos of it at our picnic table." We follow them over and see three other girls there. Christine says to her girlfriends, who are sitting around the picnic table, "Look what we found." The other girls boo, with one buxom girl saying, "You two always win." I ask, "What's this, an ugly contest? See which one of you five girls can pick up the goofiest looking guys?" A redheaded girl says, "Just the opposite, darling. Here have some lemonade." We hang-out with the girls, who are funny and full of energy. We're also getting a little buzz from the spiked lemonade and I'm bumming smokes from them too and having some laughs. They're full of compliments for Jeff and me saying we make an adorable couple. Jeff smirks at me but we don't tell then we're not boyfriends. These five girls are kinda like five guys out for the day, just fucking around with wise-ass remarks and friendly put downs, plus some outlandish tales of sex that I'm sure are as embellished as much as the stories us guys tell each other when we're in a bullshit session.
After a half hour or so they're going back in the water so Jeff and I wander back to the water tunnel to meet Ryan and Mike. They're there alright, and pissed off. "Where the fuck have you two been? We've been waiting here almost a half hour." Oh, so it's alright for us to wait a half hour for them, but they can't wait for us. I see how that works, so I sort of say that with some editing, "Well, we waited here for you guys and then we had to take a piss. We got lost coming back. We all waited around for each other." Ryan and Mike exchange glances, like... hmmmm. Mike goes, "Well, no harm done, boys. Lets go over to the diving pool where there aren't so many little kids." Ryan's still got a frown on his face, so Mike says, "Come on, Albert, Danny's right we both waited awhile." A shrug from Ryan as Jeff and I fall in behind those two smirking at each other. Jeff whispers, "Mike, the peace maker." I mumble, "Ya notice Albert doesn't try bossing Mike." The diving pool is for older kids and adults. We all do some diving off the middle of the three diving boards. There are a couple of unfortunate belly flops from all of us eliciting big yucks at each other's expense. Guys sometimes act like pricks with each other, but it's all in good fun... mostly. Then we gotta head back home, but not before Jeff asks Ryan, "Why not just call home and say you can't make dinner tonight? I mean what's one dinner?" Ryan says, "No, I can't do that." Jess, persistent, "Why not?" Ryan snaps at him, "Stay if you fucking want to, Jeff, I don't care, but the three of us are leaving." I go, "Don't be a prick, Albert. He just asked a simple question. You know goddamn well he can't stay if we don't." Ryan mumbles, "Well, tell him to stop nagging. I don't want to leave either, but my parents are sticklers about Sunday dinners." I can tell Jeff's feelings are hurt because of the way his ex-hero treated him.
Silently we change in the locker room and drive back with sunburn noses because none of us brainiacs thought to bring sun-block and obviously we weren't wearing hats. Ryan and I always wear hats on the golf course and during baseball games and practices. As a matter of fact, today we were suppose to play golf at the Club but the dates got screwed up at the pro shop and now next Sunday we have a baseball game. Sometimes things just don't work out for shit. Another thing that didn't work out is Jeff and me getting laid. There really wasn't an opportunity after spending time with the girls. That was our chance. Some other time perhaps, but at least now I know he wants to where before it was all about 'Albert'. Okay, so in Marietta I'm getting Ryan's rejects but they're not all that bad, considering their his rejects. Anyway I've actually been interested in Jeff since I first met him. We'll work something out. Jeff gets dropped off first, and then at Mike's apartment building Mike leans over and gives Ryan a wet smooch, then Ryan gives him one back and they part smiling. Mike gives me an afterthought-wave, "See ya, Danny." Ryan tells me, "Hop up front, Danny."
The car's idling at the curb as Mike goes inside his apartment building. Ryan looks at me for a few seconds, then calmly says, "I didn't appreciate you butting-in on my confrontation with Jeff. He's my side-sex buddy too, not just you. Jeff likes me being stern with him, the same way you do. So I'll say this in a nice way, you're to mind your own fuckin' business. Okay, we straight on that?" I stare back at him for a couple of seconds, then tell him, "Go fuck yourself, and fuck your stern shit too! You've gotten a big head thinking you're a big deal, but you're just a big fish in a tiny pond here. Before I arrived you were a, um, minnow. If it weren't for me you'd still be a shadow lurking around the back of the room, or staying in your own room. Get off you high horse and get fucking real. Fuck this!" His mouth is open and his face is getting redder by the minute, then he lurches over grabbing my shirt and we throw a few punches, one of which catches him in the nose and his nose starts bleeding. We stop punching each other and I give him my handkerchief, saying, "Put your head back. Back further." I hold the handkerchief to his nose, neither of us saying anything. It's maybe three minutes that his head's back with him looking up at the sky, before I tentatively take the handkerchief away. The bleeding's stopped like I knew it would. It's not like I broke his nose.
I'd been leaning over the gear shift holding the handkerchief to his nose and now I sit back as Ryan lifts his head. We sit here for a minute, then I say, "Okay, I didn't mean all that stuff I said, but I didn't appreciate your arrogant lecture either." He mumbles, "Well, you're right about you being responsible for me meeting everyone and all that." I go, "Sorry I gave you a bloody nose, although you deserved it." He slowly shakes his head, then asks, "Do I really have a big head?" I go, "Um, not figuratively, no. You have a very nice head," and I ruffle his hair. He says, "Would you drive?"
we both get out and change places. As I'm pulling away from the curb, I say, "Nice kisses goodbye with Mike." I wished I hadn't said that as soon as I said it. It sounds like I'm jealous. He just looks over at me, but doesn't say anything. Dammit! A minute later I ask, "How's your bee sting?" He shrugs and looks down at his ankle, mumbling, "The ice was a good thing to start with, and at the first aid station they took the stinger out and gave me Benadryl. It's still hurts. I'm glad Mike was there to insist I go to first aid because the nurse said bee stings can cause allergic reactions that are serious." Uh huh, he had to sneak in the comment about Mike. I go, "So it's alright then," and he goes, "Yeah, I'll live."
At the house we need to hurry taking our showers, then putting on khakis and button down the front shirts, our dinner attire. Were standing behind our chairs when Mr. W. saunters in, saying, "Use sun block next time you go swimming." For dinner it's a roast leg of lamb tonight with little browned potatoes and pearl onions, a string bean casserole and a salad too, also green mint jelly. When Mrs. W. brings in the large platter we sit down and Ryan says grace. Wine with dinner of course... ugh! The conversation is about this morning's sermon and Ryan has a lot to say about it. He knows this religious stuff cold and argues with his mother about a couple of points the minister preached. I recognize some of his argument material as stuff we had at Bible study last Wednesday night. Mr. W. and I keep quiet and enjoy our dinner. During Ryan's and his mother's religious discussion, every once in a while Ryan's father glances at me with a bemused look on his face, then his eyes drift away. A couple of times Ryan or Mrs. W. seeks his endorsement of their point of view and he's adroit at saying things that neither agrees or disagree with either of them. It's the first time I've been entertained by him. When I finally finish my glass of wine, taking the last half of it in a big gulp, Mr. W. reaches over with the wine bottle and refills my glass. I say, "Thank you, sir," and kick myself in the ass for finishing the first glass. I was just trying to get it behind me without thinking he'd refill it. Lesson learned!
After dessert Ryan and I clean the kitchen as usual, then we're in Ryan's bedroom acting awkward with each other. For something to say I finally mumble, "I didn't think I liked lamb, but the way your mother prepared it, it was good." He's at his desk on his computer typing something. I go over and put my hand on his shoulder, "What'cha looking at, Albert?" He says, "I Googled bee stings." Looking down at him, I'm remembering him being this little guy with those small round eyeglasses he was always pushing up his nose. His little nose. He's cute in a funny kind of way, and he has nice hair that I'm running my fingers through at the moment. "You've got nice hair, Albert." He stops typing and without looking at me, quietly says, "You really hurt my feelings back there in the car. I never thought you could be that hurtful." I go, "Ah, that wasn't being hurtful." He turns his head to look up at me, "What would you call it then?" I say, "I call it a good friend doing
some tough love on you. You are getting a big head letting yourself get carried away with, um, power." He goes, "I've never had a boyfriend before, and then you and Jeff follow me as your leader, so I was just being a leader. You don't want to be a leader, or you can't be one even if you wanted to, so you don't know what it's like trying to please everybody. You and Jeff like it when I'm dominant, and Mike likes everything even keel." I say, "You're rationalizing! Admit you acted like an asshole with Jeff, and then giving me a lecture about minding my own business was totally out of line. Jeff's a friend and you were being a dick to him telling him to stay if he wanted to. He didn't have a ride home." Ryan's getting a little hot under the collar again, saying, "You're exaggerating everything. And another thing, it kind of bugs me that you and Tim are fucking every ten minutes. I'm trying to balance things."
Jesus! Delusional, anyone? I squeeze the back of his neck, "You're fucking everything up is what you're doing. You're also royally pissed off that I rejected the plans you and I made this summer for the future, and I don't blame you. That's why I apologized to you a number of times. That doesn't change the fact you've escalated your in-charge persona with Jeff and me to a bullying level. As for Timmy, he has a two inch dick so fucking with him hardly counts. And anyway we're not doing it every ten minutes. It's more like once a week." He chuckles, "That two inch penis is bullshit, and I'm going to tell Timmy you're spreading lies about his dick. As for your other hurtful comments, if I'm honest with myself, there's probably some truth to what you say. Not all of it, but some of it." I go, "No, you're wrong, it's all true," and he snickers, "Goddammit, you're always joking around." I dead-pan, "No, I'm being totally honest with you." He stands up, "So I've turned into a monster, huh?" I shrug, then put a hand on each of his shoulders, saying in a serious manner, although I'm only half serious, "Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely." He squints his eyes at me, asking, "Who said that?" I go, "No fucking idea," so he smiles, "Which one am I? Corrupt or corrupt absolutely?" I go, "you're in the earliest stages of fucking everything up for yourself." He asks, "Should I do something about that?" I nod, "Yeah, and you need to be pretty damn quick about it too," then I rub his head like he's always doing to me.
Ryan sits down at his desk again, turning off his computer, then says, "I told Mike I'd stop over tonight." I'm like, "Fine," and he asks, "Would you like me to stay with you tonight?" Again I'm smelling the back of my hand, and that girl was right, it did smell more like the pool this afternoon. I wish she could smell it now, she'd be impressed 'cause I smell awesome. That thought makes me chuckle. Ryan goes, "Me asking if you'd like me to stay in with you is funny?" I say, "No, I was thinking about something that happened when you were at the first aid station. You decide if you're staying or going." He says, "Okay, what's with this assertive attitude of your's? Am I missing something?" I'm like, "Gee, I'm just expressing myself and pointing out where you're over-doing stuff. That's all. Take two aspirins and you'll be fine in the morning. Oh, and change your personality." He's shaking his head again slowly. I add, "Of course I'd rather have you stay with me tonight, but only if you really want to. It needs to be what you want or don't do it." He frowns, and I mumble, "That didn't come out exactly the way I meant it." He nods his head, then without looking at me he mumbles, "You know how I feel about you, but I can't have you so what do you expect me to do?"
Leaning over, I hug him around the neck and put the side of my face against his. He smells good too, and his short curly whiskers feel so sexy. Kissing his cheek and straightening up, I say, "I don't know what you should do tonight about going or staying, I really don't. What I said about you dialing down your superior attitude with me, Jeff and Timmy, that's for real." He shrugs, "I'm gonna go see Mike, maybe he'll be nice to me 'cause you're making me feel bad." I say, "Have fun," and go upstairs to my bedroom plotting my exit from Georgia. I was being mostly serious with him. It's one thing to be playfully dominant in a friendly manner, but entirely different doing it like Ryan's been acting lately. He's taking himself entirely too seriously without respecting me or the guys. Ryan's gone off the rails a little probably because I chose Robby's plans for us over his. Partly my fault of course, but it's partly Ryan's too because, like he said, he knew who I'd choose but he persisted anyway. Sometimes it's possible to buck the odds, but rarely with matters of the heart.
It's only eight o'clock, so too early to go to bed. I'll wait until he leaves and then walk around outside smoking a cigarette and thinking about things. I don't want to call Robby or Chubby because in my current frame of mind I might make a rash decision before I've considered all the ramifications. Huh, talk about a mature approach! Who's your daddy now? Okay, that's not mature, that's irrational. Nobody's anybody's daddy. We're twenty year old kids trying not to think like kids. To kill some time I mess around on my computer. There's tons of scientific stuff on Yahoo that's way interesting, particularly about planets and space. After a while I realize I haven't heard the Mini or motorbike firing up. Looking out the window on the garage side, I don't see Ryan yet either. Then, "Dylan" and I jump a foot in the air." Then say, "Dylan? Don't ya mean, Danny? What are you doing here?" He says, "I'm staying with you tonight. I called Mike and told him I wanted to spend some time with you." "Oh, what'd he say?" Ryan shrugs, "He said, okay'. What's he gonna say?" Huh, now what do I do?
I sit at my desk, waiting for him to say what he has in mind. What he finally says is a question, "Whaddaya wanna do?" I'm shrugging, then look at him, and ask, "Ya wanna go bowling?" He laughs, then says, "It's impossible for you to be serious, isn't it?" I go, "No, not at all. I like those big-ass ten pin balls. The little grapefruit size candlepin balls are for wimps." He's shaking his head slowly again, grinning, "Yeah, they blow. Um, I don't feel like bowling," so I say, "Lets go outside and have a smoke in the gazebo then." He nods his head and I get up. We use the front steps to the second floor, and then the wide steps down to the foyer that ends at the front door, the door that hardly ever gets used, "Out here, Danny," and we go out the barely used front door. Walking around the house to the back, he asks, "How do we patch up our relationship?" I say, "That's totally up to you because I haven't changed, you have." Glancing at me, he mumbles, "You've been giving me a lot of shit lately," and I ask, "Like what?" He says, "Butting in when I was talking to Jeff for one thing, and basically criticizing everything about me." I go, "Nope, you weren't talking to Jeff so much as you were bullying him. The other stuff I told you is all true. Think about it."
The rest of the walk to the gazebo is in silence. Sitting on the gazebo's bench we light cigarettes and Ryan holds his cigarette up, saying, "You got me hooked on these fucking cigarettes," I'm like, "Guilty, sorry," and he says, "I can see your point about the difference between being in-charge and being overbearing, or bullying like you put it. You're right, pure and simple. I won't do that anymore. And you're right that I'm being petulant because you rejected my dreams." I mumble, "And I apologized for that a few times already, but we all have dreams. They can't all come true, especially when they overlap. Life's a bitch, and then you die." He disagrees, "Life's not a bitch. Not for guys like you and me, the fortunate ones with nice homes and food on the table and going to college and all that." I say, "I know, but lets not get philosophical. We're talking about us right now, us fortunate ones fucking ourselves up without reason." He says, "Who's getting philosophical now?"
Another two minutes of silent smoking before Ryan takes a deep breath and says, "I've been unfair to you this past week, but it's apparently hurt me more than you. I kept waiting for you to ask for sex and you wouldn't do it." I ask, "Why should it be me?" Another shrug from Ryan, "Because you always used to and it made me feel good. You know, you're sort of special and popular, so you asking me for it made me feel special too for once in my life." Glancing over at him, I go, "Well, now you're popular here, um, if you don't fuck it up," and he mutters, "Yeah, thanks mostly to you I'm popular here." My turn to take a deep breath because it's like we've talked ourselves into a corner." He passes me his cigarette butt and I drop his and mine in the big vase, then say, "Tell me what you want to do, Albert. It's your call." He says, "Well, my first choice is to get in bed with you, but we can't do that because my parents are roaming around the house and I wouldn't feel right." I go, "We've done it plenty of times already." He shakes his head, "Yeah, but we were in our bedrooms supposedly sleeping. Now it'd be like we go upstairs at eight o'clock together and they'd see us going, ya know?" "Yeah, I kinda agree. How about we bring a blanket and drive over to the falls on the motorbike. It's a really nice night." He looks at me, "Awesome idea! We can skinny dip and, you know, whatever," I go, "Lets do it."
We go inside, and Ryan tells his parent we're going for a ride on the motorbike. They're in the library with brandies. His mother says, "Be careful, boys. Junior and I are turning in early so we'll say goodnight now." Ryan gives her a kiss on the cheek, saying, "Goodnight to you both." His father gives a wave of his hand and Ryan says to me, "I'll meet you at the garage. I need to use the bathroom." Outside I'm taking the tarp off the bike and folding it as Ryan comes out with a beach blanket he stows under the seat. Holding my face between his hands he kisses me on the lips, then says, "Good talk, Danny," and I have to grin, then chuckle, muttering, "Yeah, good talk," Ryan gets our helmets, we put then on and he gets on the bike firing up the engine, then looks at me. I get on behind him giving his waist a hug and laying against his back. Of course it's a wheelie out of the garage, then the tight turn at the curve in the driveway where I again gasp thinking we're falling over on the side, then we straighten up and roar down the straightaway of the driveway, come to an abrupt stop, look both ways and we're off. Motorbikes and motorcycles, they're a thrilling ride with death just around the next turn, but we're young and bulletproof so, ZOOOOM! off we go.
to be continued... Donny Mumford thinat20@yahoo.com donnymumford@outlook.com
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Hoping some readers may be interested, there are books of mine published and available on Amazon.com. Anyone who has Kindle can download them for next to nothing. (Or buy the 'print' version.) The books are under ten dollars. They are about a 19 year old gay boy (Oliver) who has a far different life than Dylan's. And there is a new book, 'Mike, his Bike and Me'. Please at least check them out by typing my name on Amazon.com. Information about the story in the books can be found in some detail there. Thank you.
Donny Mumford
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